2-story waves on Great Lakes halt cargo shipping

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By Associated Press

Sault Ste. Marie Evening News - Sault Ste. Marie, MI

By Associated Press

Posted Oct. 31, 2012 at 1:45 PM

By Associated Press
Posted Oct. 31, 2012 at 1:45 PM

Traverse City

Cargo shipping was at a standstill Tuesday on the Great Lakes as superstorm Sandy churned waves up to two stories high, forcing crews to take refuge in bays and harbors and raising concerns about an economic blow if the shutdown is prolonged.

The lakes are a bustling maritime highway for ships that haul bulk commodities such as iron ore, coal, limestone and grain. The massive vessels, some longer than three football fields, are built for punishment and accustomed to plowing through rough seas — even during the “gales of November” that in bygone days scuttled many a craft, including the legendary Edmund Fitzgerald nearly 37 years ago.

“We don’t stop for thunderstorms and flurries,” said Glen Nekvasil, spokesman for the Lake Carriers’ Association, which represents U.S.-flagged cargo ships on the Great Lakes. “The lakes don’t have to be perfectly flat. It has to be a significant weather event for ships to go to anchor or stay in port. But this was just too much.”

About 50 vessels in the U.S. fleet are operating on the lakes this fall. Nekvasil said some began heading shoreward Monday morning, and he knew of none that were sailing Tuesday.

Canadian ships also were playing it safe, said Robert Lewis-Manning, president of the Canadian Shipowners Association, which has about 80 member vessels that travel on the lakes.

“Everything’s come to a halt,” Lewis-Manning said. “They were taking precautions well in advance. The waves are getting much higher than we’ve seen for a long time.”

The U.S. Coast Guard doesn’t have authority to order ships off the water but issued an advisory urging them — and recreational boaters — to stay out of harm’s way, said Petty Officer Levi Read of the regional office in Cleveland.

Weather buoys operated by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration recorded wave heights exceeding 21 feet on southern Lake Michigan, 19 feet on southern Lake Huron and 14 feet on western Lake Erie.

Waves had dropped significantly on Lake Ontario by Tuesday afternoon, measuring just over 2 feet — down from a high of 12 feet the previous day. But on Lake Superior, the biggest and westernmost of the freshwater seas, waves were getting higher and had reached 9.5 feet.

“It’s going to be treacherous on the Great Lakes for the next couple of days,” said Scott Rozanski, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Gaylord, Mich. Even after the superstorm gusts subside, strong northwesterly winds from Canada are expected to make for choppy surfaces, he said.

Every day that a ship doesn’t operate hurts the company’s bottom line, just as when trucks or planes are idled. Nekvasil said it takes about 40 hours for a vessel hauling iron ore from mines near Marquette to reach Detroit steelmaking plants. So a storm-induced layover of two days can be the equivalent of a lost trip.

Page 2 of 2 - Once traffic get moving again, there could be temporary delays at choke points like the locks at Sault Ste. Marie, which lower and raise ships between Lakes Huron and Superior, Lewis-Manning said.

But it’s among inconveniences the industry deals with, like low water levels that sometimes force ships to carry lighter loads, Nekvasil said.

“The weather on the lakes in November is always challenging,” he said.